Copyright & DMCA / takedown

Version 1.5 — effective 2026-11-16.

Waidrn is a hosting platform for user-submitted works. Rights holders and their agents can ask us to take down material that infringes their rights. We respond to valid notices and provide a clear path for counter-notice.

Where notices go

Copyright contact: copyright@waidrn.com — a monitored inbox. Notices are delivered here and reviewed by the operator; where the process requires a formal designated agent, the operator adds that information separately and it is never invented on this page.

The full formal process — the required fields for a notice, what happens next, and the counter-notice path — is on the Copyright, notices & counter-notices page. Delivery status for every monitored address is on the Contact page.

What to include in a takedown notice

1. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim is infringed.
2. The exact URL(s) on Waidrn of the material you claim is infringing.
3. Your name, address, email, and (if you are an agent) your authority to act for the rightsholder.
4. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the rightsholder, its agent, or the law.
5. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the rightsholder or authorised to act on their behalf.
6. Your physical or electronic signature.

What happens next

We acknowledge notices within a reasonable period, hide or remove the identified material while we assess it, and notify the uploader where we have contact details. The action is recorded in the audit log with a public tombstone on the affected content. Repeated infringement by an account leads to suspension.

Cross-references

Content reports that are not copyright matters are handled through the Moderation process and the Content Policy.

Counter-notice

If you believe material you posted was removed in error, write to the same address with the URL, your contact details, and a statement that you have a good-faith belief the removal was a mistake, plus consent to jurisdiction. We may restore the material if the notifier does not pursue the matter.

Fanworks

Fanworks are transformative works published free of charge. Rightsholders who object to specific fanworks can use this process; we will honour valid requests. The platform takes no fee from creators or readers, and hosts nothing behind a paywall.

Rights status and project money (v1.4)

Works and projects on Waidrn carry a rights status chosen by their creator: original, owned, licensed, consented, fanwork without a licence, or rights not established. Project funding and ongoing contributions are only open for the first four. Fanwork without a licence and unknown-rights projects cannot receive project money; their pages offer creator support and this claim path instead.

Copyright-holder claim path. If a project uses your work without a licence, you (or an authorised agent) can file a claim from the project page with a statement and optional evidence link. Claims are reviewed by moderators; a pending claim is visible on the project page and project money stays closed. An accepted claim records the rights holder's consent and opens project money for that project; a rejected claim keeps it closed and the claimant is notified. Claims are audited. This is an additional workflow for project pages; it does not replace the DMCA/takedown notice process, which you can always use for hosted content.

Other legal notices (court orders, regulators, law enforcement)

Copyright is only one kind of legal demand. Court orders, law-enforcement requests, regulator/DSA orders, foreign blocking demands and platform-policy actions go through the legal-notice intake and the same operator queue. The receipt you get there is not a decision and not legal advice: it does not mean content has been or will be removed. Where a demand is valid and enforceable, we record the decision and reason and act as narrowly as the demand requires; we may seek counsel and may decline or narrow unlawful or overbroad requests. Evidence is preserved and a legal hold can block deletion while a notice or appeal is pending. Aggregate counts (kind and outcome only, never identities) are published on Transparency. Nothing on these pages is a promise of a response time or a legal outcome.

What changed in version 1.5

This version adds the live account/profile model, adult-gating wording, realm contracts, the unified legal-notice workflow, provisional location availability, jobs/chats/patronage cross-references and the privacy additions that go with them. It is not legal advice, and it does not claim a designated agent or a guaranteed response time. The trust/legal review flag stays on until the operator and counsel sign off; see Legal & trust for the operator checklist.

Honest delivery and decisions

• The copyright address and the Contact page state the actual delivery status. Email delivery may be delayed while mail DNS is completed; the in-app forms are the durable record.
• A notice receipt is not a decision. We may hide material while reviewing, restore it if the notice is not upheld, or keep it down with a recorded reason.
• We do not publish notice contents, requester identities or evidence. Aggregate counts by kind and outcome appear on Transparency.
• Legal holds can preserve evidence and block deletion while a notice, appeal or counter-notice is pending; holds are placed and released by the operator with an audit trail and a review date.
• Counter-notices are recorded and may be forwarded; restoration follows the applicable process and is never automatic.